It will take more than Cressida Dick’s resignation to restore women’s faith in the police

It’s been a terrible year for women and our relationship with the police.  

Last March, the Sarah Everard case highlighted the pervasive issue of male violence against women and girls, but it also sparked outrage due to the fact that a Metropolitan Police officer was capable of using his position to lure, kidnap, rape and murder a civilian. 

The police had to rebuild trust. 

When a vigil was held in Sarah’s memory, four protesters were arrested for breaching covid regulations. There was public outrage as images were circulated of police officers manhandling female attendees, yet a police inspectorate review found the Metropolitan Police to have ‘acted appropriately’. 

The police had to rebuild trust.  

Last year, a misconduct hearing found that a Met officer had breached professional standards behaviours when he inappropriately messaged a female victim of a crime. Not only did he keep his job, but he is now an aide to the Met Commissioner.

In January, officers from Charing Cross Police station were found to have exchanged jokes via WhatsApp about rape, killing black children and beating their wives.  

The police have failed to rebuild trust. 

Following Dame Cressida Dick’s resignation last night, it’s clear she has accepted her failure to make substantial changes within the Metropolitan Police force, but her successor has their work cut out for them. 

Lasting change doesn’t happen overnight – nor will a resignation solve all the Met’s problems. Improved training and recruitment policies must surely be a start, with clear guidelines on behavioural practice and a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination and bullying. 

Until then, I fear that women will feel hesitant about coming forward to report crime, either because they fear they will not be taken seriously, or because they fear the police as an institution. 

If a crime is not reported, not only will justice not be served, but we will never know the true extent of crimes committed in our society, so it is vital that changes are made.  

Research by the House of Commons Library estimated that more than 2million crimes against women and girls have gone unreported since 2018, as only one in three women who were victims said they reported it to the police.  

Being a victim of a crime is not a choice. It is something that happens to you and suddenly you feel the responsibility to do something about it, which can feel like a burden regardless of the context of the crime. 

I have reported several crimes to the police over the past few years

If you are a victim of a sexual crime, then the emotional burden can be even greater. 

Although reporting something cannot change the past, it has the potential to change the future for other potential victims. But that weight of responsibility can feel heavy, especially if all you want to do is move on. 

I have reported several crimes to the police over the past few years; an assault, a sexual assault, an online stalker, and a stranger who exposed himself to me in public.

Each time, all I wanted to do was forget it had happened and get on with my life, but I couldn’t. I knew that if I didn’t at least report each crime, the perpetrator would get away with it and they may do it to someone else. 

Before the first report, my relationship with the police extended as far as the fictional officers I’d watched on television. I’d always felt reassured and protected by their presence, so I had no reason to feel hesitant.  

I now understand that to be a privilege.  

I had never been stopped and searched in the street, I had never been told I was acting suspiciously, nor had I been profiled for the way I looked, dressed or behaved. I cannot imagine what it would take for a person to approach the police service as a victim if they had once falsely been presumed to be a suspect.  

My experiences of reporting crimes were varied, but overall positive. 

One officer questioned why the photos I had of my bruises were taken two days after I had been assaulted. I had to explain to him that’s how bruises work. 

When I reported a sexual assault, I was asked what I was wearing, how much I’d had to drink and whether or not the perpetrator felt he had a right to touch me – whatever that means. 

While I understood that these questions were likely being asked to pre-empt my response to a possible defence lawyer, I pointed out to the investigating officer that I was disclosing an assault, not being cross examined on the stand, and that perhaps he could work on his tact.  

When women report crimes motivated by misogyny, it is imperative that the officers they speak to meet them with empathy, sensitivity and compassion. 

As if there weren’t already enough reasons why women and marginalised communities might feel hesitant to come forward, reading reports, articles and anecdotes about other victim’s negative experiences and the culture of misogyny, racism and homophobia within the police might give them more reason not to act. 

But it is not on newspapers to stop reporting the police’s shortcomings, it is for the police to take action to address it.

Women should be empowered to report sexual assaults, domestic violence and misogynistic crimes

I just hope Dick’s resignation isn’t too little too late.

With the on-going Partygate scandal at Westminster and the Met’s reluctance to investigate the parties sooner, the public’s already waning faith in the police is being tested to its limit.  

When public trust in the police force is diminished through their own actions, victims suffer further, and helps make the case for the redistribution of police funding to other services that help prevent crime and make our communities safer. 

When a stranger exposed his genitals to me and a friend in Hyde Park, where we had met up for a coffee this year, what followed was that sinking feeling of knowing that if I didn’t at least try to report it, then this man may go on to do it again, or his behaviour may escalate. 

I made a report online and I’m pleased to say that it was a simple, positive experience and the Met treated the incident with importance. They sent over an officer within a couple of hours to my home address, took a statement and offered me victim support should I have required it. They were friendly, compassionate and professional. 

My heart sinks to think that this is not the experience of witnesses and victims across the board. 

It’s naïve and irresponsible to suggest that all victims must report crimes to the police, regardless of their trust in the system, but I don’t want victims to feel hopeless either. 

Women should be empowered to report sexual assaults, domestic violence and misogynistic crimes as much as they should be enfranchised to make a complaint about the police. 

With that in mind, there are organisations out there who can assist victims who have experienced sexual violence and can provide advocates to assist in making reports to the police if that is your wish. 

Rape Crisis Centres provide specialist support and services to women and girls who have experienced sexual violence and you can learn more here. 

If you have had a negative experience with a police officer, or are dissatisfied with the handling of your case, you can either make a complaint directly to the station, or can complain to the Independent Office for Police Conduct via an online form. 

All contents of the form will be passed on to the relevant police force for them to record, but if you have any concerns about your information being passed to the police, you can call 0300 020 0096 for advice. 

The system is far from perfect, and is in need of huge reform, but change is often a slow process.

In the meantime, it is imperative that victims of sexual crimes know there are organisations out there who can assist them with making police reports, and that all citizens know how to make a complaint against the police force we pay to protect us.  

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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